Mail Order Bride: Bitter & Pregnant, An English Widow Heads Off to Her Cowboy Rancher In California (A Clean & Wholesome Historical Romance)

Mail Order Bride: Bitter & Pregnant, An English Widow Heads Off to Her Cowboy Rancher In California (A Clean & Wholesome Historical Romance) by Doreen Milstead Read Free Book Online

Book: Mail Order Bride: Bitter & Pregnant, An English Widow Heads Off to Her Cowboy Rancher In California (A Clean & Wholesome Historical Romance) by Doreen Milstead Read Free Book Online
Authors: Doreen Milstead
Tags: historical romance victorian romance western romance boxed set romances mail order bride
became increasingly pregnant, and Joseph gradually
healed. They visited every day, became closer and closer. Jeanne
and her companions moved into Joseph's home and one night, Joseph
walked up to Jeanne's door and knocked on it. She opened the door
of her room and still looked radiant, tough, and beautiful. She saw
that Joseph was wearing some nicer clothes than his usual fare and
while he was walking with a cane, he was smiling.
    "Miss Jeanne, I'd like to go for a walk with
you."
    "All right," said Jeanne. "Just let me get a
shawl. It's chilly out tonight."
    They walked along the fields, where tired
cows slept and sheep huddled together for safety and warmth. A dog
was walking along beside them, a herding animal named Orion. Henry
had brought him here and had started working at the ranch full-time
in order to keep an eye on his horse. He proved to have a knack for
working with animals and he ably fulfilled all the duties that Jack
had been in charge of. Jack, meanwhile, had been interred in the
local jail and was later sent to the state's prison for kidnapping,
fraud, and multiple attempted murders.
    Horace and Francine were trying to open a
medical practice in town, as Francine had already become the
midwife for the area and Horace proved to have a personality that
made him easily likable. All of this went through Jeanne's mind as
she walked with Joseph down the path and then she realized what was
going on.
    "This is the old-fashioned way," she
said.
    "It is," said Joseph. "You move well for a
woman heavily pregnant."
    "And you move well for a man with a cane,"
said Jeanne. "You know, I've felt normal these past few weeks. I
haven't felt angry or hateful and while I do feel sad sometimes,
it's an honest sadness. I think that this country is good for
me."
    "I think you're good for me, too, because I
haven't had one bit of sadness since you ad your friends came,"
said Joseph, and they walked in silence. "I was wondering if you'd
do me the honor of marrying me. I would kneel, but I don't think
I'd ever get up."
    "Of course," said Jeanne, and she threw her
arms around him. "I was starting to get annoyed because you refused
to ask."
     
     

Epilogue
     
    The wedding was small. This time, Thackery
personally came to America to pay for it all, since the last time
had proven to be a mess. A pastor was brought in, as well as the
families of the brides and grooms since Jeanne was true to her word
and allowed Horace and Francine to renew their vows during an
actual ceremony.
    It actually seemed more like it was Horace
and Francine's wedding than Joseph and Jeanne's, but neither one of
them really cared. All that was important was that they were
married in front of their friends. Horace and Jeanne went on a
small trip for their honeymoon, while Joseph and Jeanne stayed
home. Henry had found out that his horse was pregnant and was
doting on her.
    The more important pregnancy was Jeanne's
own, and soon, the pregnancy became a birth. Francine, back from
her honeymoon, delivered the child.
    "I'll name him Jeremy," said Jeanne.
    "Sounds like a good name," said Joseph. "Any
name but Jack."
    Once the foal was born, many months after
Jeremy was born, Henry gifted it to the young man. He had already
started breeding more horses, earning himself a respectable living
and the horse was no racehorse. He knew the Clausons would give it
a good home. One night, years later, Joseph and Jeanne sat on their
porch and watched Jeremy and the children of their friends take
turns riding Jeremy's horse.
    Horace and Francine were sitting next to
them, as well as Henry and his new wife, a girl named Jennifer.
Jeanne reflected on her life to that point and smiled. It had all
turned out all right and while she did miss her first husband, she
had done well for herself. She rested her head on Joseph's shoulder
and kept smiling.
    It was a good life.
     
     
     
    THE END

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